Place and Distribution

Getting it to the customer 🚚

A brilliant product is no use if customers cannot get hold of it. **Place** is the fourth P of the marketing mix: getting the product to the customer at the right place and time. This module looks at the **distribution channels** a product travels through, and the difference between selling through physical shops and selling online.

The key words 🔑

Four terms describe how products reach customers:

Retailer or e-tailer? ⚖️

A business can sell through a physical shop, online, or both.

Match each part of the chain 🔗

What is an e-tailer? 🎯

Which best describes an e-tailer?

• A business that sells its products online
• A physical high-street shop
• A company that buys goods in bulk to sell on
• A factory that makes the goods

Why sell online? ✅

Select the TWO advantages of selling online through e-commerce.

• It can reach customers almost anywhere
• It is open 24 hours a day
• Customers can physically try the product first
• It needs no delivery at all

The distribution channel 🛒

A **distribution channel** is the path a product takes from the producer to the consumer. Common channels are: producer to consumer (**direct**); producer to retailer to consumer; and producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. A longer channel has more middlemen, but can get the product into far more shops.

Distribution in words 🧱

The fourth P of the marketing mix is _____: getting the product to the customer. The path a product takes from producer to customer is called a distribution _____. A physical shop that sells to customers is a _____, while a business that sells online is an _____. A wholesaler buys goods in _____ and sells them on to retailers.

From producer to consumer 🪜

An interactive activity.

Spot the online selling 🖍️

An interactive activity.

Choose the channel 🧭

An interactive activity.

Recommend a channel ✍️

An interactive activity.